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Princess Weekend 2023
RunDisney Princess Weekend 2023 was unbelievable, indescribable, inspirational, and educational! The Walt Disney World Princess Weekend 2023 for Run Disney was a real Fairytale Challenge! In case you have forgotten why I signed up for this craziness – take a few minutes to read my post after we registered in July of 2022. I’ll wait for you to catch up 😉
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How I trained for Princess Weekend
I trained following the Galloway Training Plan for the Challenge and started in July to get a head start by walking three qty 5ks (3.1 miles) a week at a slow/moderate pace to test it out and get my feet and legs used to the mileage.
After our trip to Africa (no running!) in Aug-Sept, upon returning, I got serious. I started the program early to allow for any unforeseen injuries or illness, and thank goodness I did because I needed the buffer for both! I rarely missed or had to make up any of my training runs in the beginning and played around with my run/walk intervals for a while until I settled between 30/30, 45/30, and even made it to 1:00/30 depending on distance (these are all explained on the top of the training plan).
Soon, I started reaching longer and longer distances and had faster recovery and less soreness. I cried every time I hit a new milestone, up to completing my longest distance ever, which was 14 miles.
Injury while training
Alas, all that came to a screeching halt just after the new year when I broke my toe, tripping over a handweight in my home. I was utterly crushed and had to stop training and everything else in life to give it time to heal.
A few weeks later, I started by only walking because so many people had reminded me to put the miles on my feet, even if it’s just walking – Forward is still a pace.
Once I felt capable of putting the impact of running back on that foot, I started again with only a couple weeks left, and overall, I had a total of 246 miles of training miles since beginning in July of 2022. I was still in pain but was trying to focus on my excitement instead.
Race Weekend 2023
Finally, after half a year of training, it was race week! We packed everything Disney-themed that we owned into the car and headed out Thursday morning to embark on what I knew would be an unforgettable adventure ahead of us. Thursday was the bib pickup, Friday was the 5k, Saturday was the 10k, and Sunday was the half marathon = 22.4!
My “Run like it’s almost Midnight” Tank is from Amazon and Mark’s Mickey Mouse Chewbacca shirt is from Etsy!
Princess Weekend Expo
We arrived at ESPN Wide World of Sports for packet pickup around Noon on Thurs, Feb 23, and yes, there were many people on the first day, but the parking was simple (we drove ourselves), and lines moved quickly. Lots of energetic music, blazing sunshine, banners, photo opportunities, food, drinks, and swag awaited!
Bib Pickup
We first went to pick up our Bibs in the Field House building – they require you to know your bib number from your Run Disney account, have digitally signed your waiver (which you can do on-site), and show your photo ID. Then they give you your race bib. Each event bib is picked up separately unless you are doing the challenge, which is what we did, so we had to pick up the 5K and then go to a separate line to pick up the Challenge bib, which covered the 10K and Half Marathon. We also received a princess poster and luggage tag!
Shirt Pickup
Next, you go into the Athletic Center building next door, where the leading Health & Fitness Expo is happening, and at the very back of the building is where you pick up your race shirts. Same deal here – we had to go to two different lines to collect the 5K, then another line to get the 10K, Half, and Challenge shirts. These lines moved very quickly!
Meeting Jeff Galloway
After that, we browsed all the vendors in search of Fluffy Fizzies so I could pick up my online order of bath and shower recovery bombs. It’s such an easy process for a race weekend, and they are excellent for recovery. I owe it all to one of the podcasts that excited me for this challenge – Rise and Run Podcast! While we were at the Expo, we walked past the Jeff Galloway booth, and luckily, there was a short line to meet the man himself! Jeff Galloway signed my princess poster and was very encouraging and kind, and it felt like talking to a family member. Fan girl for life, and I feel very grateful I got to meet an Olympian who has inspired me so much.
Official RunDisney Merchandise
In January, for Marathon weekend, Run Disney started a new process for buying official RunDisney Merchandise at the races, and it involves joining a virtual queue to enter the Advent Health Arena building on the first day of the Expo. There, you can shop exclusive Run Disney Merchandise that you can’t find anywhere else (except eBay).
Mark and I had already decided after the merch preview that dropped the week before that we would rather spend more time at the Expo, parks, and resort instead of waiting in the queue and fighting the crowds. We are also both superstitious in the sense that neither of us will wear a race shirt before we run a race, and I didn’t want to chance buying an item and face the idea that I would be out money if I didn’t complete it and I firmly stand by this now for sure!
Checking in to Pop Century
Since we had everything we needed to run the races, we headed out by 2 PM and over to the resort we were checking into for the weekend, one of our favorites, especially for races – Pop Century!
This is roughly the fifth time we have stayed here over the years, and sadly, this time, it took the longest for us to check in, so we parked the car and headed to the Petals Bar at the Hippy Dippy pool and waited for our room to be ready with a cold drink in hand. We had learned from the bartender that four significant events were happening that weekend besides just a race weekend, so it was packed, and thankfully, we packed our patience!
We lucked out when we got a room on the 3rd floor in building 6 in the 70s area, and it had a great central location to the buses, skyliner, and the food court. We will try to request this room and building again in the future.
Fueling for Race Weekend
It was after 3 PM when we got into our room, so we quickly unpacked the car, tossed it into the room, and got straight onto a resort bus to Disney Springs for our 4:40 PM ADR – Advanced Dining Reservation – at Enzo’s Hideaway in Disney Springs. Spaghetti, here we come!
We ordered sangria, caprese, and all the pasta and bread we could to fuel up for the next 72 hours with no regrets – it was an excellent meal that gave us late-night leftovers – our favorite!
The 5k was the next day, and we needed to catch a bus at 3 AM and a race start at 5 AM, so we returned to the room, took a nice cool shower because it was HOT, and headed to bed…. It was for a sleepless night due to nerves, of course.
At this point in the trip, I had noticed some facial pain and swelling along with some congestion on the left side of my face – thanks to pollen season. I took some allergy medicine and tried not to think much about it… but this will creep back into the story soon.
Princess 5K
We set everything out the night before that we knew we would need, set our alarms for 2:45 AM, and were up and out the door and on the second bus by 3:15 AM to the start line at Epcot. Mark is a great runner, but since he registered me simultaneously, he found himself in the same corral as me, a first-time runner, for the 5K and 10K.
That was perfect since he already planned to stay with me for my first Run Disney event – the Princess 5k… and we started in the last corral – D! We already knew we wanted to walk this entire race and save our legs for the next two.
The 5k at Disney is not timed; there are no balloon ladies, and they do not sweep you off the course within reason. They need to open the park at the usual time so that is the only factor and some people can take up to 3 hours to finish it.
We had a wonderful time just walking by the character stops, looking at everyone’s costumes, and seeing Epcot behind the scenes and the world showcase at sunrise. It was beautiful!
Our slow and steady 5k, my first race ever, ended with us both in tears because of an extraordinary family with whom we crossed the finish line – A survivor and her entire family. It was such a monumental and inspirational moment to see a family come together like that, and it gave us all the feels since I have been silently worrying about my own family’s health journeys. This image will last a lifetime, and I am so happy it happened right before my eyes.
My custom Princess Jasmine Ears are from Etsy and Mark’s Aladdin shirt is from Amazon!
Hollywood Studios
We headed back to the resort, grabbed the best bagel sandwich ever from the Everything POP dining area, and fell into bed for the most epic nap in history!
Finally, one race down, two big ones to go! Something we knew already and absolutely proved itself this weekend is that a Vacation is very different than a Race-cation. We took our rest, fuel, and hydration seriously and utilized our resort instead of feeling like we needed to spend every second doing something.
Once we woke up and felt alive again, we headed to Hollywood Studios via the Skyliner for our ADR and our first visit to 50’s Prime Time Café. If you know me at all, you know that I have spent decades obsessed with the 50’s. 60’s and 70’s, I LOVE everything vintage and mid-century. So, this has been on my list for a long time.
We loved it – the atmosphere, the food choices, the TVs, the music, and the “crappy” service was excellent, and our home-cooking meals were fantastic. We will do that again!
Princess 10K
We turned in early with another 2:30 AM wake-up and 5 AM race start for the 10k on Saturday. The 10k had corrals A-D, and we were in D again. They release each corral in several waves 2 min apart, and the balloon ladies are the last to start and maintain a 16 min mile.
We started in the wave right before they did. The time limit for a 10k is 1 hour 40 mins, and technically, you can finish it right behind the balloon ladies as they are just a visual representation of the final runners, and technically, the bikers behind them will sweep you off the course if you aren’t moving forward at a decent pace.
We started the 10k with a two-minute buffer from them, but you increase the buffer as you run. Mark and I ran at my pace and my preferred run/walk intervals, and we never even saw the balloon ladies during the entire race! We had a beautiful race even though it was 93% humidity and finished with smiles, hand in hand, across the finish line.
This excellent course took you from the Epcot parking lot to Hollywood Studios, down Disney’s Boardwalk, and back through Epcot.
We made no dining or park plans for this day, and once we were back in the room, we took another glorious nap, then got food in the Pop Century at Everything POP, hydrated, and hit up two of the pools for the rest of the day with a 7 PM bedtime. Two down and the big one to go!
My custom Beauty and the Beast ears are from Etsy and Mark’s Beast shirt is from Amazon!
My First Princess Half Marathon
The half marathon was the one I was the most nervous about, but I trusted my training and was as ready as I was going to be with only faint foot and toe pain and lingering sinus pain.
I slept decently well that night and woke up on time. We made it on the first bus of the morning, and once we checked our bags, we headed to our corrals. The half marathon had corrals. A-F. Mark was in B because he submitted proof of time and is amazing. I was in F 😓 (Mark was already at mile 5 when I finally crossed the start line a full hour after A corral went off).
DNF Princess Weekend
I was in the second to last wave before the balloons and only had a two-minute buffer. I worked hard the first 4 miles to increase my buffer to 10 min ahead of the balloons, but then I got super dizzy at mile 4, and I had to step off the course until it passed and lost some of my buffer.
At that point, I said my only goal was to make it to the castle, and I did. The Castle was at mile 5-6, and I still had about a 5-minute buffer, but then at mile 7.5, I almost completely crashed, and then I watched the balloon ladies 🎈 go right past me. I outran them for 8 miles.
Technically, the bikers said I could keep going, but I couldn’t focus on anything in front of my eyes and knew if I couldn’t see, I couldn’t keep up for five more miles – it wasn’t safe. The Half marathon time limit is 3:30 from the last person to start.
It was wild because I’d done that distance three other times in training and was within the time limit, so something was wrong, and it was just an off day. I think the 10k dehydration lingered, along with the sinus issues I was starting to experience on the first day, and it’s what took me down in the fog and 91% humidity. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see, and I just went down to my knees and went numb. I wasn’t planning to get a DNF (I did not finish), but I am thankful I never lost consciousness and I didn’t fall and get a severe injury.
When I got on the bus they provided to those who had been pulled or had pulled themselves from the course to ride back to the reunion area, I couldn’t stand alone, and no more seats were left. Several ladies offered me a seat, but I refused because everyone looked rough. As soon as the bus started to move, I just laid on the floor, and an excellent runner put her ice pack on my neck until we arrived back at Epcot.
They helped me to my feet, and I left the bus to find Mark, who had already finished his sub-2-hour half marathon. It wasn’t until I saw him that I finally let the tears fall. He was so proud of me even though I didn’t finish as I had hoped, but he was so glad I wasn’t hurt. Everyone was so encouraging – I was the only one being hard on myself and still scared about what happened. But then I was reminded – even elite athletes have bad days.
I haven’t even been running for an entire year, and the first time I have ever signed up for anything, I did a three-day race that most people think is crazy. I was almost there.
Mark’s Moana Shiny shirt was purchased on Amazon!
Princess Weekend Wrap Up
I had hoped to end this journey on a high note, but sadly, I was swept from the course around mile 8. But I made it to the castle, and I still feel very proud of my journey and my first attempt at anything this significant.
I finished the 5k, 10k, and 8 of the 13.1, and if you asked me a year ago, I wouldn’t have believed I’d be doing any of it. Of course, I’m feeling disappointed I didn’t get the challenge medal, but I got 3 of the four medals for Princess Weekend 🙌
Mark, as always, did absolutely amazing and is still my biggest inspiration 🏃🏻♂️🎉 He got his goal of a sub 2-hour half marathon and did his first back-to-back challenge ever, and I’m super proud of him.
Don’t worry; I have always been a princess – this was just to add some bling to my life, lol! I will redeem my half marathon and continue to grow from this experience. It was an absolute blast that gave me more focus and determination to keep going! This will not be my last Run Disney event!
My custom Cinderella Minnie Ears were purchased on Etsy as well as my Cinderella silhouette shirt and Mark’s No Belle Prize Gaston shirt was purchased on Amazon!
Magic Kingdom for Princess Weekend
Despite a low point, I refused to let us end our race weekend on anything but a high point, so we napped. I dusted myself off, wore a new Cinderella shirt and ears, and headed to Magic Kingdom for our last night.
We took a few photos with our medals in front of the castle like I had wanted to do, and then we headed off to eat all the calories we had burned running/walking over 90 miles during the trip.
We dined at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom, and to our surprise, the characters were back after a hiatus from the pandemic, and we got to have our first character dining experience! I was sitting there minding my own business when Winnie the Pooh walked up behind me and gave me a hug that I badly needed. Throughout dinner, I got the same loving hug from my favorite characters, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger. It was a unique and nostalgic way to end our time in the parks.
Disney Springs for Princess Weekend
We checked out of Pop Century and headed to Disney Springs for our final dining reservation experience on Monday.
We had a couple of hours to waste, so we immediately got in the Gideon’s Bakehouse virtual queue, and to our amazement, it was only about an hour’s wait (on a Monday, of course!).
In the meantime, we did some shopping at some of our favorite Disney Springs stores and kept moving to get the lactic acid under control – We picked out some delicious cookies, cake, and cold brew to take home once we were called back for our turn at Gideon’s and then headed to a place that has been on my list for years now – Wine Bar George. It was heaven and exactly what we wanted and needed, and we will definitely make this a regular spot!
Well… that was a fun goal. Cheers, and thank you for all of the support! We will be keeping a close eye on #rundisney and the upcoming registrations! Spoiler alert – We signed up for Wine and Dine 2023!
p.s. All of the custom Minnie Ears and Disney shirts you see in our photos were either purchased on Amazon, Etsy, Hot Topic, Target, or at the official Disney stores! Find ALL of our affiliate links on our SHOP!
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I’m proud of you! It took a lot of preparation to get as far as you did – a lot farther than most. So glad you didn’t have an injury and knew your limits and stopped.
Just an incredible experience. So glad you and Mark got to have it😁❤️